The Cajun & The Canadian
by HlysComment
Summary: McKay is none too pleased with Evangeline the new Cajun marine.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Cajun and the Canadian

Author's Note: I'm originally from St. Martin, Louisiana which is in a region of South Louisiana known as Acadiana. I grew up listening to stories of Evangeline, the young woman separated from her fiancé in the expulsion from Ile Saint-Jean (otherwise known as Prince Edward Island). I thought Rodney McKay was just the kind of person to take any blemish, no matter how slight, on his nation's track record personally. So, I'm introducing him to a Cajun and we'll all see what happens. I think this'll be fun.

Featured Character: Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex

Other Characters Include: Teyla E., John S., Jennifer K., Radek Z., & Richard W.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Stargate, not making money, please don't sue me I don't have anything worth taking, etc. etc. etc.

**Canadian Disclaimer:** I am not in any way, shape or form anti-Canadian. I'm not even trying to write Evangeline as anti-Canadian but just in case someone reads that into the story because of the confrontational stance McKay is going to take, I want to say for the record it's not there. I mean, Acadian (name from which the term Cajun was derived) is even practically an anagram for Canadian for crying out loud (stupid, pesky extra N). Les Acadiens comme les Canadiens! Je promets!

* * *

John Sheppard let his food tray fall the last two inches to the mess hall table, creating a satisfying clang that caused his team to jump. Okay, it caused his team minus Ronon to jump but McKay made up for it by actually letting loose a little squeak.

"So, new arrivals! The new personnel have had time to settle in here at Atlantis. What are our thoughts?" John said as he plopped himself into his seat.

Ronon grinned wryly, "Well, I don't think Teyla's eying any of this group if that's what you're asking."

Teyla looked slightly annoyed. "I have told you, all of you, repeatedly that I was not attracted to Lt. Phillips."

"Sure, you weren't." John said unconvincingly.

McKay chimed in with, "Oh, please! Even I could see you had the hots for him, and I'm, well, you know…me."

John and Ronon both laughed at that and even Teyla was forced to grin. Ronon leaned back in his chair and seemed to consider something before speaking.

"I have a question. Do any of you understand Lt. Hebert when she talks?"

Teyla nodded sympathetically, "Yes, I thought at first that she was perhaps speaking a language that is similar to English but not. Like Dr. Zelenka and Dr. Krajnak, their languages sound extremely similar to my ear but apparently Dr. Zelenka speaks Czech and Dr. Krajnak speaks Slovak. However, I was confused because the flag displayed by her patch is the same as that of John."

"Okay, okay, okay." John said after swallowing the food he had been chewing. "First of all, her name isn't pronounced Hebert. It's apparently supposed to sound like "a bear". That's how she explained it to me. Just say a long "a" and the word "bear", and you've got it. It's French. Second, you're not the only ones having a problem with her accent. I'm having a little trouble understanding her myself. She's Cajun."

"What does that mean?" Ronon grunted.

"I'm not sure. All I know is that Cajun's talk funny, eat a lot of spicy food and say 'aieee'." John raised his voice into an ascending falsetto for the last word and paused to appreciate his team's laughter before adding, "Oh, and they're from Louisiana. That's about it. However, you can ask her about it on our next mission if you want."

McKay's head snapped around to face Sheppard, "What?"

"She's one of the marines assigned to help with the heavy lifting on our mission to PF2-663." John replied. "Why? Is there a problem?"

"No, just as long as she understands English better than she speaks it." McKay said irritably.

John squinted at McKay, "I'm sure she'll be fine."

* * *

"She has got to be, without question, the single most annoying human being I have ever met and I'm a scientist! We excel at being annoying!" Rodney ranted to Jennifer the day after the mission to PF2-663.

"Really?" Jennifer said, "I did her post mission check up and she seemed really nice to me."

"Are you insane?" Rodney demanded.

Jennifer smiled at his reaction. "Not the last time I checked."

"Yes, well, you actually enjoy my company, or seem to do so." Rodney said in a much more subdued tone. "I think that qualifies your abilities in judging character as suspect."

It never ceased to amaze Jennifer that someone as confident in his intelligence and abilities as Rodney could be so insecure about his personal worth.

"Actually, I would say that qualifies me as a discerning judge of character not easily swayed by outward appearances." She said and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, again wondering what had occurred in his past that caused him to only see his own value in what he could do and never in who he was.

"Is it because she's Cajun?" Jennifer queried.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Rodney asked exasperatedly.

"Well, you are Canadian. Didn't the Canadians kick the Cajuns out or something? Isn't that what that Longfellow poem Evangeline is about?"

"No!" Rodney fairly shouted. "It was the British who made them leave."

Jennifer paused a moment wondering if it was worth it to press on, before she continued.

"The British in Canada? In other words the British Canadians?"

"That was centuries ago! What does it matter now?" Rodney said defensively.

"Nothing! Nothing, Rodney. I mean, I'm American for crying out loud. Talk about displacing people. I was just wondering if maybe her being Cajun was part of what made you uncomfortable around her."

"No!" Rodney said, adding, "Being around her is what makes me uncomfortable around her."

He thought of the previous day's mission and shuddered.

(to be continued...)


	2. Chapter 2

Title: The Cajun and the Canadian

Author's Note: I'm originally from St. Martin, Louisiana which is in a region of South Louisiana known as Acadiana. I grew up listening to stories of Evangeline, the young woman separated from her fiancé in the expulsion from Ile Saint-Jean (otherwise known as Prince Edward Island). I thought Rodney McKay was just the kind of person to take any blemish, no matter how slight, on his nation's track record personally. So, I'm introducing him to a Cajun and we'll all see what happens. I think this'll be fun.

Featured Character: Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex

Other Characters Include: Teyla E., John S., Jennifer K., Radek Z. & Richard W.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Stargate, not making money, please don't sue me I don't have anything worth taking, etc. etc. etc.

**Canadian Disclaimer:** I am not in any way, shape or form anti-Canadian. I'm not even trying to write Evangeline as anti-Canadian but just in case someone reads that into the story because of the confrontational stance McKay is going to take, I want to say for the record it's not there. I mean, Acadian (name from which the term Cajun was derived) is even practically an anagram for Canadian for crying out loud (stupid, pesky extra N). Les Acadiens comme les Canadiens! Je promets!

**Accent/French Disclaimer:** I tried to walk the fine line of actually presenting the Cajun accent while still making the character understandable. I may have failed and feel free to let me know. I also tried to express how frustrating it is to have to change completely how you speak in order to be understood. Also, the only French I know, I learned in Louisiana. It's Cajun French and I'm told that it is in a lot of ways very different from proper French.

* * *

"You con hon meh dat shovall der, mebbe?" Said Lt. Hebert in her deeply melodic voice.

Ronon couldn't believe the Private was actually supposed to be speaking English.

"What?" He asked.

"Can you please hand me that shovel?" She said in a strangely clipped, nasal and artificial sounding accent as she pointed to the shovel laying about a meter from Ronon's feet.

"Oh." Ronon said simply and handed her the shovel.

"Mon, I godda tryan talk' naw suh flat, moor Texian, ya." Lt. Hebert then said, to herself, slipping back into her natural tone of voice and accent.

"Oh, for goodness sake!" McKay erupted. "Can you not speak English? Even Zelenka manages to make himself comprehensible!"

"Dassa funny joke, dat der. Canadien tellen meh da speakuh Anglais." The Lt. muttered defiantly. "_Peeshwank_."

"What?" Ronon said again.

"Exactly!" McKay fumed. "If you can't speak in a comprehensible manner, please refrain from speaking at all." And he stormed off to check on one of the other groups of diggers.

Lt. Hebert watched him go, shrugged unconcernedly and went back to working in silence.

Ronon grinned. He was starting to like the small Marine if for no other reason than for her extraordinary talent at annoying McKay.

"Hey, Hebert." Ronon said and saw the short, stocky brunette smile at his carefully correct pronunciation of her last name. "You're from John's country right?"

"Yah, _Cher_." She replied then winced. "Sorry," she said, continuing in the higher and more nasal voice. "Yeah, American."

"So, uh, why do you sound so different? I mean, McKay's from a whole different country and he sounds more like Sheppard than you do."

The Marine grinned impishly and said, "Meh gah de daw, meh no no, _Cher_. Dem up countreh don no how'da talk." She giggled at Ronon's confused expression and switched voices again. "It's just hard to explain I guess. A lotta history, _Cher_."

"You say that a lot." Ronon commented and Hebert gave him a questioning frown. "Sha. You say it a lot. What does it mean?"

Hebert laughed, "_Cher_. It means dear. We, Cajuns do say it a lot, I guess."

"See, what does that mean, Cajun?"

Hebert paused her shoveling. "I'm uh try to explain that. My people use ta live up north in Canada."

"Where McKay is from." Ronon interjected.

"You right." Hebert continued. "There was a war an' all. One side won, one side lost." She shrugged. "The winners din wan the losers around no more. They send them off and they mose of 'em end up in the same place, Louisiana."

Ronon grinned. He noticed that as the Marine spoke her voice steadily lowered, became more melodic and edged back into her native accent

"They keep themself to themself an pretta soon they they own people. _Mais_, nobody round dem speak a French and dey call dem Cajun." She shrugged and started shoveling again. "_C'est tout. C'est fin, Cher_."

"You know what scares me, Hebert?" Ronon said and grinned as Hebert shook her head no. "I think I actually understood most of that."

Hebert laughed in a pleasant full throated way and turned back to the work at hand with a smile and a hum.

* * *

McKay returned to where the Satedan and Cajun were digging. Weingarten had detected relatively strong energy readings in the middle of an empty field near the local settlement. So, a team had been assembled to see if some kind of Ancient structure or machinery might be buried there. The group was spread out and McKay had been making a circuit, trying to see if he could better narrow down where they should be digging.

As he approached his least favorite pair, he heard them laughing happily.

"I don't know what you're so happy about." He muttered. "It's hot and humid, I'm being eaten alive by bugs I can't even name, we've been at this for four hours and have made absolutely no progress and it's getting dark."

Hebert shook her head at him. McKay couldn't believe it but even when she wasn't talking in that absurd accent she still managed to annoy him.

"What?" he said testily.

"_Joie de vivre_, McKay!" She said and then translated for Ronon. "Joy of life. Where I come from, we try to pass a good time no matter what we doin'."

"Sounds like a good attitude." Ronon said, looking pointedly at McKay.

"Yes, well, where I come from we try to speak with proper grammar." McKay snarked back.

"Proper is as proper does." Was the Cajun's mock sage reply.

"Did you just in all seriousness paraphrase Forrest Gump?" McKay asked completely incredulous.

Hebert and Ronon exchanged amused grins and McKay felt a sudden urge to wring the short woman's throat.

"I don't suppose either of you has actually found anything?" He fairly growled.

"Nothing." Hebert said pleasantly. "_Absolument rien." _She paused momentarily and then with a burst of laughter added, "_Bon rien._"

To McKay's supreme annoyance, Ronon also started laughing, apparently in on a joke that McKay was convinced was at his expense.

"Just let me know if you actually find something." He said haughtily and walked away with their laughter ringing in his ears. McKay was Canadian, after all, and did speak a little French but as far as he knew there was nothing particularly funny about "nothing good." He had no way of knowing that in Cajun expressions it implied a man for whom nothing was good.

* * *

Nothing good was the theme of the mission. McKay found nothing good and by the time the three days were up he felt nothing good. He couldn't believe his bad luck when he found that sitting on the examination table next to his for the post mission check up was none other than Lt. Hebert. The accent, the incessant chatter, and don't even get him started on the humming and singing.

He impatiently endured Jennifer's ministrations and, rather than wait in the infirmary for her to finish with Lt. Hebert told her he'd meet her in one of the recreational rooms later.

As he walked away he heard Lt. Hebert singing _again._ What was wrong with that woman?

_Lady sing the blues so well_

_As if she mean it_

The last thing he heard as he walked out of the infirmary was Jennifer's voice saying, "That's lovely. What song is that?"

(to be continued...)


	3. Chapter 3

Title: The Cajun and the Canadian

Author's Note: I'm originally from St. Martin, Louisiana which is in a region of South Louisiana known as Acadiana. I grew up listening to stories of Evangeline, the young woman separated from her fiancé in the expulsion from Ile Saint-Jean (otherwise known as Prince Edward Island). I thought Rodney McKay was just the kind of person to take any blemish, no matter how slight, on his nation's track record personally. So, I'm introducing him to a Cajun and we'll all see what happens. I think this'll be fun.

Featured Characters: Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex

Other Characters Include: Teyla E., John S., Jennifer K., Radek Z. & Richard W.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Stargate, not making money, please don't sue me I don't have anything worth taking, etc. etc. etc.

**Canadian Disclaimer:** I am not in any way, shape or form anti-Canadian. I'm not even trying to write Evangeline as anti-Canadian but just in case someone reads that into the story because of the confrontational stance McKay is going to take, I want to say for the record it's not there. I mean, Acadian (name from which the term Cajun was derived) is even practically an anagram for Canadian for crying out loud (stupid, pesky extra N). Les Acadiens comme les Canadiens! Je promets!

**Czech Disclaimer:** I don't really speak Czech well at all. I speak Slovak. So, if my attempt at Czech is flawed. Please excuse me.

* * *

"Actually, I find her quite pleasant." Zelenka replied simply.

Rodney couldn't believe his ears. "You? You like her?"

Zelenka merely blinked at Rodney in reply.

"How can you even understand her? I can barely understand her." Rodney said irritably.

"I cannot understand her pretty voice, no, but I understand the other." Zelenka said over his shoulder, turning back to his work.

"What are you talking about?" Rodney asked as he in turn began to examine the recorded energy readings Weingarten had taken on PF2-663.

"Hebert has two voices. The nice musical one no one understands and the _strasne_. Um,_ jak sa povie_? Um, nose one that everyone understands."

"Well, I suppose you're just attracted to anyone who can't make it through a conversation without throwing around another language." Rodney said snidely.

"Rodney, it is not easy..." and Zelenka sighed but did not continue.

"What?" Rodney asked.

"Never mind, there is not point. _Nevady_. We just work, yes?" Zelenka said without turning to face Rodney.

"We just work, no. What?" Rodney insisted and Zelenka sighed again, heavily.

"It is just. You do not understand how difficult it can be to work all the time to be understood. It is much easier for me now. English is not such problem as it was before but I remember what was like to have to think how to say something every time I wanted to speak."

"First of all, trust me; English is still a problem for you." Rodney responded. "Second, I'll have you know that I spent several terrible years, quite possibly the worst years of my life, in Russia. So, I think I know a little about making yourself understood."

Zelenka did not look convinced. "People that you work with, they all speak no English."

"Well, maybe a few of them spoke English." Rodney admitted.

"_Presne tak._ How many others here speak Czech? How many speak dialect of Lt. Hebert?"

"_Dialect?_" Rodney practically choked on the word. "It's a horribly thick accent. It's not a dialect."

"I disagree." Zelenka said in his simple forthright manner. "The way she speaks is not just accent. Lt. Jones is having thick accent from New York and it is not the same. Lt. Hebert is speaking different words in different grammar. The rules are not the same as English. Is more like different language than accent."

"Can we just stop talking about Lt. Hebert, please?" Rodney said irritably.

Zelenka smiled. Usually, when Rodney changed the subject it meant he didn't expect to win an argument. "You brought up the subject."

"Yes, well, now I'm dropping it." Rodney said shortly. But Zelenka was right. He had brought her up. Why? Why did the woman so completely irritate him? Why was he still thinking about it?

_Just focus on the work at hand._ He thought to himself.

Rodney and Zelenka continued to work on their separate projects in companionable silence when suddenly Rodney jumped up.

"Oh no!" He said quietly and ran from the lab. Zelenka stood and watched him go. He felt a bit of dread settle in his stomach. What had McKay discovered?

* * *

Rodney rushed through the gate room toward Richard Woolsey's office his mind focused on what he had just discovered. He wasn't paying much attention to the world around him and cursed himself silently when he slammed into someone, knocking them to the ground.

"Sorry, sorry," He said quickly turning to make sure he hadn't injured the person. "Oh, it's you." He said when he saw it was Lt. Hebert.

"I'm fine, thanks." McKay heard her stay as he turned a rushed away. He noted absently that she had spoken in what Zelenka had called her nose voice. The words were still shaded with accent but were easily understood. Well, that was at least something.

When he walked into Woolsey's office the perpetually nervous looking man glanced up and smiled, "Dr. McKay how nice to see you. You know, Lt. Hebert just made the most wonderful suggestion. What do you think of having a talent show here in Atlantis?"

"I think the Wraith are doing a fine job of making our lives hell and don't need our help." Rodney said curtly, "Look we don't have time for this. I examined the recorded energy readings and its not Ancient technology. It's Wraith tech. I contacted Weingarten's team and used their equipment to bounce the long range sensors and I detected a Hive ship."

Woolsey's face paled.

"The Wraith are heading to PF2-663 and they'll be there in less than 24 hours. We have to get those people out of there, now."

(to be continued...)


	4. Chapter 4

Title: The Cajun and the Canadian

Author's Note: I'm originally from St. Martin, Louisiana which is in a region of South Louisiana known as Acadiana. I grew up listening to stories of Evangeline, the young woman separated from her fiancé in the expulsion from Ile Saint-Jean (otherwise known as Prince Edward Island). I thought Rodney McKay was just the kind of person to take any blemish, no matter how slight, on his nation's track record personally. So, I'm introducing him to a Cajun and we'll all see what happens. I think this'll be fun.

Featured Character: Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex

Other Characters Include: Teyla E., John S., Jennifer K., Radek Z., & Richard W.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Stargate, not making money, please don't sue me I don't have anything worth taking, etc. etc. etc.

**Canadian Disclaimer:** I am not in any way, shape or form anti-Canadian. I'm not even trying to write Evangeline as anti-Canadian but just in case someone reads that into the story because of the confrontational stance McKay is going to take, I want to say for the record it's not there. I mean, Acadian (name from which the term Cajun was derived) is even practically an anagram for Canadian for crying out loud (stupid, pesky extra N). Les Acadiens comme les Canadiens! Je promets!

* * *

Ronon watched the solemn line of villagers walking in that peculiar shuffle he knew too well. Each step bespoke the internal struggle between the despair at leaving everything you knew and the desire to run to safety. He gripped the handle of his laser pistol tightly, and listened intently while scanning to skies for any sign of the Wraith. He knew there was no point. The jumper Sheppard had placed in a cloaked orbit over the planet would let them know the minute the Wraith arrived.

Ronon glanced at Lt. Hebert, positioned just a few meters away from him and also scanning the skies. He and Hebert were guarding McKay who was trying desperately to discover the source of the signal being sent to the Wraith as the villagers retreated through the Stargate. He decided to approach her.

"You're very quiet." He said to her and McKay shot him an irritated glance. Ronon ignored him. "It's not like you."

Hebert smiled but without her usual enthusiasm. "Oh, and you know me so well you do in da how many day you know me?"

Ronon simply shrugged and said, "I'm pretty good at reading people."

Hebert sighed and took a moment or two to answer. "It juss remond me uh when I's a leddle gurl. Der wuz a hurricaan. An we all of us hadda leave. Car and Car line up all leavin they home behind and wonder ifn they gonna see 'em uhgin." She swallowed. "Mah Uncle he decide he stay an ride it out. He din make it."

She shrugged and smiled again. "Ah guess alla dis makin me tink onit jussa bit. Don worry, _mon ami Grand. _S'okay."

Ronon had never thought of anyone of the members of the expeditions having to run away from danger in their own world. He had come to think of Earth as a magical safe haven on which nothing really bad could ever happen. Hebert was slowly changing that perspective.

Ronon's radio crackled and he heard Sheppard's voice.

"Okay, we're getting the last of the villagers through the gate right now. McKay, you got an ETA on that power source yet?"

"I'm doing my best Colonel but this…" The scientist suddenly stopped speaking.

_Good sign._ Ronon thought.

"But what, McKay? The Wraith will be here any minute." Sheppard sounded annoyed.

"I think I found it." McKay all but whispered. Then his voice rose in volume and pitch. "I did it! I found it!" He yelled.

"Great." Came Sheppard's message over the radio channel. "Turn it off and get your ass through the gate."

"I can't." McKay said simply.

"_McKay_" Sheppard called, very annoyed. "We don't have time for study or salvage here. Turn the damn thing off, NOW!"

"I would, Colonel, but it's still buried." McKay managed to sound even more annoyed than Sheppard.

"What?"

"I know where it is, I just can't get to it." McKay explained.

"Well, that's too bad. Get back to the gate." Sheppard replied.

"You don't understand, Colonel. If I can turn this off and the Wraith find an empty village they might write it off as a malfunction and the Porians could be reasonably assured of being left alone. If I don't turn it off, who knows when these people could be safe here."

"That doesn't change the fact that you can't get to it, McKay. We don't have time to go treasure hunting. Back To The Gate!"

Hebert interrupted, "This is where it is, you say?" She asked McKay pointing to the spot the scientist had seemed to indicate.

"What?" McKay said irritated the rolled his eyes. "Not now, Girly. The adults are talking."

Ronon had never seen the small woman angry before and marveled at the transformation of the almost perpetually jovial face. Her eyes iced over and, even though she still had to look up at him, McKay backed away from her expression.

"Dis es et, ya?" She asked again, her voice reverting to its lower register and her hand pointed emphatically at the spot she had indicated moments before.

"Y-yes." McKay said in a soft and unsure voice.

"Alright then." She said and pulled out a block of C4 and a detonator. She planted it firmly on the ground and before McKay could react started the timer on the detonator. Ronon grinned broadly as the pint sized woman manhandled a shocked McKay forward screaming, "Fire in da hole!" Ronon followed in an easy gait to the fallen tree behind which the marine threw herself and McKay and took cover with them.

"What is going on over there?" Sheppard's voice came over the radio. "Did you just say…"

The rest of his sentence was drowned out by the roar of the explosion.

"Are you _insane!_" McKay screamed when the last of the sediment had rained down.

"Sometime, _Cher."_ She said and winked.

"Hebert, what is going on over there? Are you all okay?" Sheppard's voice called through their headsets.

"Yessir, we all fine. Just used some explosive to uncover the alien tech."

There was a long pause.

"Tell McKay good thinking. Look, we're close to the 38 minute limit on this wormhole. Wait for Henderson to come down with the Jumper then dial direct to Atlantis. We'll see you there. " Sheppard paused then added. "And Hebert, better make it quick. Sheppard out."

Hebert smiled at McKay sweetly, "Good thinkin, _Genie. _Let's go check it." And she jerked her head in the direction of the gaping hole in the ground.

McKay looked at the tablet he carried. "No need, actually. The explosion must have, uh, must have damaged whatever was down there, destroyed the power source. " He looked at the marine as though he'd never seen her before. "The signal's gone."

"Good news." She activated her radio. "Henderson, we all ready to go. You feel like givin' us a ride, _Cher_?"

"Sure thing, Hebert."

It didn't take long for the Jumper to reach them or for them to board. Ronon was still smiling over Hebert's surprising stunt as they approached the gate. It was a good day. The villagers were safe, the device was dismantled and they were heading home before the Wraith even arrived. He leaned back as Henderson started to dial the Jumper's DHD but the airman had only pressed three of the seven required symbols when the gate engaged.

"Oh no." Henderson breathed. "Off world activation."

"It's the Wraith." Ronon said quickly. "Cloak the ship. They're blocking the exit."

He saw Henderson still momentarily, as he made the mental command to cloak the ship.

Ronon leaned forward, glancing through the Jumpers window up at a sky suddenly filling with Wraith darts and said. "They're here."

(to be continued...)


	5. Chapter 5

Sheppard paced back and forth behind Chuck in the gate control room. "Try it again." He said shortly.

"Sir, we can't get a lock. The Stargate at the other end is engaged. The Wraith probably dialed in before they arrived on the planet." Chuck answered.

"That's why you need to keep trying it until you get a lock." Sheppard growled and Chuck wondered for a moment if the Colonel might actually hit him.

"Colonel, calm down." Richard Woolsey said, stepping in and Chuck tried to suppress a sign of relief.

"My people are stuck on a planet with the Wraith!" Sheppard shouted.

"Yes, they are, which is why we need to stay calm and make sure our decisions will help them." Woolsey said evenly. "It stands to reason that if someone is going to dial the gate as soon as the Wraith-instigated wormhole has failed, it should be our people and not us."

Sheppard looked like he'd like to continue arguing but couldn't argue with Woolsey's logic.

"You're right." He said finally.

Woolsey nodded curtly and then turned to face the gate. "All we can do now is wait."

John heard the worry in the nervous man's voice and suddenly felt a rush of sympathy and appreciation for the men and women who wait.

He turned to face the gate with Woolsey. Waiting sure wasn't easy. The minutes ticked by excruciatingly slowly then…

"Unscheduled off world activation!" Sheppard heard Chuck the technician shout and unconsciously held his breath. "It's Lt. Henderson's IDC!" He yelled. Sheppard exhaled gustily and he activated his radio. "Lt. Henderson what's your status?"

"We're fine, sir. Heading to the Jumper bay." Lt. Henderson said but there was a strange trembling to his voice.

"Have a med team _and_ a security team waiting in the Jumper bay." Sheppard said and headed down to the bay himself.

* * *

Jennifer rushed to the Jumper bay with a lump in her throat. She knew Rodney had been trapped on PF2-663. She knew that his group was returning in the Jumper and she knew that someone had called for a med team. What she didn't know, she reminded herself, was that Rodney was in any kind of trouble.

As she and her team entered the Jumper bay she saw John entering from the direction of the gate room. She was about to ask about the med team call but before she could speak the Jumper arrived. The door opened slowly and she heard…laughter?

Lt. Hebert's voice flowed easily, "Then Robicheaux says, 'Them poor fella, they didn't have a chance. They couldn't get the tail gate down!"

The laughter escalated into raucous howls as the rear door finally lowered and the four occupants started to exit. Jennifer felt the air in her chest rush out in a massive bark-like sound. Rodney looked up at the sound.

"Jennifer!" Then he looked at the med team and then at Sheppard and then at the security team. "What's going on? We didn't call for a med team."

Jennifer looked pointedly at Sheppard, "You didn't?"

"Well," Sheppard looked defensive. "Henderson sounded…I just…He sounded weird alright."

"He was probably trying not to laugh." Ronon snorted. "Hebert started telling jokes to pass the time."

"Yes, yes, tell them the one about when Robicheaux, Thibodeaux and Dugas go fishing!" McKay said enthusiastically.

Jennifer couldn't believe her ears. Rodney was actually inviting Hebert to talk.

"Maybe in the infirmary." Jennifer said. "Let's take care of your post mission check up," She looked at Sheppard again, "since I'm all dressed up for it."

_Then maybe you can tell me what the heck happened in that Jumper._ She thought.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimers: **see previous.

**Reviews welcome!** Especially from Acadians and Canadians! This was probably the most difficult story I've written because it was so real in ways. Being an ex-patriot esq Acadian, I sometimes feel the need to explain: 1) Acadiana is not New Orleans and 2) why Acadians are so "jolly" living in a place that gets hit by Hurricanes every couple of years. The simple answer is Acadiana is home. There is community there that I haven't seen anywhere else in the States and there is something to say about having a community and a real culture to turn to. So, I hope I managed to get that accross. Thanks for reading! Here we go for the last bit...What _did_ happen in that Jumper?

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The unlikely foursome sat quietly in the cloaked Jumper and impotently watched as the Wraith wreaked their havoc on the empty village. The darts had initially swarmed about, waiting to pick off the villagers as they fled. When no one appeared, the darts started firing on the village structures to drive the villagers out into the open.

McKay had made a disgusted sound in his throat at the sight, "Well, Lt. Kaboom, I guess you needn't have bothered with the pyromania." He said but his voice was full of frustration and sorrow, not anger.

"Not necessarily, Doc." The Cajun had replied. "They still don't think nothing special 'bout the place. Buildings can be rebuilt. Don't I know it."

"Does nothing bother you!" McKay had practically yelled in frustration.

Lt. Hebert looked surprised at his reaction but shrugged, "I guess, if you Cajun, you get used to startin over, _Cher_."

"Oh yes, yes I know." McKay had replied irritably, "Because the big bad Canadians kicked you out, right? Go ahead, say it."

"What you talkin 'bout?" Lt. Hebert frowned but McKay made no reply. "Mebbe I'm no _genie_, like you, but I ain't stupid." She said then and there was anger in her voice.

"You think I don't know how people look at us? Cajun's just some fat, jolly folk that eat a lotta spicy food and say 'aieee'" and she gave Rodney such a pointed look he was uncomfortably reminded of Col. Sheppard's comical and loud impersonation in the mess hall. He wondered if she had heard it.

"I don't mind." She shrugged. "That's life, ya know. We so small and so far from everybody. Only time Texian come south is for Mardi Gras and they actin up in the big city. They don't none of 'em usually see Acadiana. How they gonna know anythin' about us? But we ain't stupid."

McKay cleared his throat uncomfortably. He needed to explain but he wasn't sure he actually understood and he didn't like the feeling. He hated relationships expressly for this reason. He always ended up at a loss, completely confused and he hated the feeling of not understanding.

Lt. Hebert had lapsed into a sullen silence, Lt. Henderson was quietly trying to figure out if the Jumper's cloak could actually make him disappear and McKay was still trying to figure out what had just happened when Ronon spoke up.

"McKay doesn't think you're stupid." Ronon said, then he paused and considered for a moment before continuing,

"At least, not any more stupid than anyone else. I think that he thinks you don't like him because of what happened to your people in Canada. He's just being prickly because of it."

"Prick is right", Lt. Hebert muttered but with a slow smile. She turned to McKay, "He right, _Cher_? That's juss about the stupidest thing I ever heard, _Genie_. Why I should care about something happened so long ago? I wasn't talkin about no _Grand Derangement_ earlier when I was talkin bout rebuildin no. I was talkin bout Huricane."

McKay didn't know what to say. "Oh." was all he managed.

Lt. Hebert smiled. "You ever read _Evangeline_?" She asked.

Ronon was confused. "Read Evangeline? I don't get it. What are you talking about?"

"Yeah, my first name is Evangeline but I'm named after a poem." Lt. Hebert answered.

"Oh." Ronon said and looked at McKay.

"No, not really. I don't really get poetry but I know the story." McKay said.

"I don't." Ronon said simply and looked out the window at the Wraith scouring the village. "And we're not going anywhere for a while."

Lt. Hebert shrugged then, and started to tell the story of her name sake. She couldn't remember the entire poem, but when she could she would quote Longfellow's haunting words. She told about Evangeline, the farmer's daughter from Grand Pre who was engaged to her love Gabriel. How her father had died on the shore waiting for the ships to take them away to their exile and how Evangeline had been separated from her Gabriel. How she had searched tirelessly for her love over the years only to find him dying from a fever.

"But McKay," She said after the story was done. "There's part of that poem that is my very favorite part. You really need to hear it, _Cher_."

_Welcome once more, my friends, who so long have been friendless and homeless, _

_Welcome once more to a home, that is better perchance than the old one! _

_Here no hungry winter congeals our blood like the rivers; _

_Here no stony ground provokes the wrath of the farmer. _

_Smoothly the plowshare runs through the soil as a keel through the water. _

_All the year round the orange-groves are in blossom; and grass grows _

_More in a single night than a whole Canadian summer. _

_Here, too, numberless herds run wild and unclaimed in the prairies; _

_Here, too, lands may be had for the asking, and forests of timber _

_With a few blows of the axe are hewn and framed into houses. _

_After your houses are built, and your fields are yellow with harvests, _

_No King George of England shall drive you away from your homesteads,_

"You see? That's the thing about us Cajuns." She smiled. "That's probably part of why we live happy someplace that year after year destroys our homes and churches. We had probably one of the worst things that can happen and you know what? It's what made us, us."

Hebert paused. "Sometimes the worst thing that happen to you, actually turn out to be the best. You just gotta be ready to accept it."

She smiled then. "Things is only as bad as you let 'em be. What don't kill you make you stronger, right?"

Ronon grinned, "I like that."

McKay smiled. "So, you really don't care? I mean, you don't hold a grudge or anything?"

Hebert snorted. "What I gotta grudge for? Them British saved us. If it weren't for them we'd a been Canadians!"

Ronon and Henderson laughed but McKay opened his mouth as though to protest.

"Calm down, _Peeshwank_. I just kid. _Les Acadiens comme les Canadiens. Je promets_."

McKay smiled. "Thanks." Then he frowned. "What does _Peeshwank_ mean?"

Hebert coughed quickly and said, "Man, I'm bored. Say, you ever hear the one where Robicheaux, Thibodeaux and Dugas go fishin in the Bayou Teche?"

**_Fin_**

A/N: I based Lt. Evangeline Hebert on my sister who so embodies the "laissez-faire/laissez les bon temps roulez" attitude, her commnoly used nickname is Shine. She and many of my friends and family are picking up the pieces again, after yet another Hurricane; Gustav. It's seems silly to dedicate a little fanfic story to someone but I'm a silly person so it don't mind me no no bit, Cher. **clears throat.** Sorry, that was my inner Acadian trying to get out again. I hereby dedicate this silly little story to my friends and family in Acadiana; even the ones I've never had the priviledge of meeting. Bonne Chance, mes Amis! You have my prayers. OH! and sip a little Community Coffee for me, yeah?


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